Montclair, NJ – Junior forward BRANDON CHANNER registered his second straight double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds as Montclair State shot over 50 percent from the field in an 83-63 victory over The College of New Jersey on Saturday at the Panzer Athletic Center.
Junior guard ERICK LOFTEN-HARRIS added 14 points, four rebounds and five assists for the Red Hawks (2-0, 1-0), who put four players in double figures in the NJAC opener.
Erick Murdock, Jr. had 10 point, seven rebounds and six assists for TCNJ (2-2, 0-1 NJAC).
MSU led from tip of buzzer and scored the first four points as JARRETT BOGUS hit a three and Channer made 1-of-2 at the foul line the in first 74 seconds of the game. The Lions cut the lead to a point twice before Montclair went on an 18-4 run over a seven-minute span to take control. Channer and JORDAN ROBERSON hit back-to-back three pointers and a triple by SHAUN RUSSELL gave MSU a 20-9 advantage with 11:58 left in the half. DANIEL RODRIGUEZ capped the run with a three-pointer extending the MSU lead to 24-9.
Rodriguez would hit again from behind the arc to increase the lead to 27-12 and a Bogus jumper with 43 seconds left gave the Red Hawks their biggest lead at 36-18.
Montclair shot 50 percent (11-of-22) from the field, including 7-of-13 from three points range while the Lions struggled connecting on only 6-of-30 attempts (20 percent).
TCNJ would make a run in the second half and got the deficit down to 45-38 as Eric Klacik drilled a three-pointer with 13:43 to go. Channer hit two at the line boosting the lead back to double digits but Klacik hit again making the score 49-41 with 12:49 left. The Red Hawks put the game away with a 14-4 run. Channer started it with two free throws and a fast-break layup from Loften-Harris made the score 57-41 with 9:57 to play. Bogus finished off the run a minute later with a three-point putting Montclair up 63-45.
Bogus finished with 11 points and three rebounds while Rodriguez chipped in with 13 points in 12 minutes off the bench. Roberson added nine points along with 10 rebounds as Montclair outrebounded the Lions 47-33. Russell had seven points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Montclair returns to action on Tuesday, November 24 with an 8:00 pm tipoff against Kean University at the Panzer Athletic Center.